Criminalising squatting is the real crime

Academic Stuart Hodkinson looks at the criminalisation of squatting which will be debated in the Lords for the last time today.

“It’s a curious move during the worst housing crisis in modern memory, to turn homeless people who shelter in empty homes into criminals looking at a year in prison or a £5000 fine. This from the government whose leader promised that austerity would not hurt “the vulnerable, the poorest in our society”.